|
If you've never been to www.whitehouse.gov,
you're in for a pleasant surprise—especially if you enjoy history and enjoy
touring historical sites.
Not only will you find all the current political details, but you can also
take several cool virtual tours. After the tragedies of September 11th, public
tours of the White House were stopped. Although I believe some of them now have
been renewed, access is obviously not what it once was, due to heightened security.
But you can now enjoy not only seeing what you might have seen during a public
tour, but you can also virtually tour many of the private areas where the public
has never been allowed.
On the main page, you'll notice a link to History
& Tours. If you have the bandwidth and have Real
Player installed, you can view recorded tours of many of the more private
areas of the White House.
Note! Real Player is the format the White House uses and you can download
a free copy of the minimal player here: Real
Player. Click on the Free Player link when you arrive at this link.
You'll download the player and then need to fill out a registration to use it.
But once that's done, you can go back to the White House site, click on any
of the tours shown below and view some cool video tours.
Each tour is conducted by folks who know the rooms well—like Press Secretary
Ari Fleischer telling you all about how things work in the Press Room. And they
even reveal some secrets.
Did you know that President Franklin D. Roosevelt's swimming pool is still
under the Press Room? Yup, there's a trap door and you can look down to it through
this virtual tour to still see the pool tiles below. Pretty cool!
But if you don't have the online power to watch full video files while online,
you can still take virtual tours. You'll find a link for Tours
Online, on the same History & Tours page, that will allow you to view
various rooms and learn the history behind each area, just by clicking on the
areas of the picture.
And you can still get the feel of a live, moving picture, without the excess
bandwidth, by checking out the Panoramic
Tours. Below is an image showing just some of the available rooms
you can view.
When you click on a room to view, a new window will open that has buttons you
can use to move around the room, just like you're there, walking around.
Tip! Use your keyboard arrows to move around the room, rather than clicking
the buttons with your mouse. It allows you more control and you won't get dizzy
from spinning around too quickly!
You can even use the Zoom tools to take a closer look around.
And there's also lots of fun and educational stuff
for the kids. See how well you know about the pets in the White House.
You can even tour the White House from a dog's eye view by viewing the
Barney Cam!
Check it out—it's not only informative and educational, but fun!
|
